2 Dominican players compete in 2012 MLB Home Run Derby

The 2012 MLB All-Star Game rosters feature 8 Dominican baseball players this year. That comes out to 11% of all the players appearing in the All-Star Game. The percentage of Dominican players appearing in the 2012 MLB Home Run Derby last night was smaller, but the country still had two representatives swing away in the Derby.

Dominican player Robinson Cano was shut out in the first round of the Home Run Derby. The Dominican Baseball Guy can not remember any player getting shut out in a Derby, so it must be a long time since that has happened. This proves once again that the Home Run Derby does not mean a lot. Cano is one of the top  5 players in the game by most accounts, and he will be in the running for the AL MVP again this year.

However, Jose Bautista salvaged the competition for fans of Dominican players. Bautista has led the AL in home runs the last two seasons and is a appearing in his second strait home run derby, so he was expected to have a good showing. He made it to the second round, then snuck into the finals in a bat off against Mark Trumbo, before finally losing in the finals to Prince Fielder.

Dominican baseball player Robinson Cano is from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic and Jose Bautista is from Santo Domingo.